In particle physics, bosons are subatomic particles which obey Bose–Einstein statistics. Several bosons can occupy the same quantum state. The word boson derives from the name of Satyendra Nath Bose.

Bosons contrast with fermions, which obey Fermi–Dirac statistics. Two or more fermions cannot occupy the same quantum state.

Picture: Higgs Bosons

Since bosons with the same energy can occupy the same place in space, bosons are often force carrier particles. In contrast, fermions are usually associated with matter (although in quantum physics the distinction between the two concepts is not clear cut).

Bosons may be either elementary, like photons, or composite, like mesons. It must be noted, however, that some composite bosons  do not satisfy the criteria for Bose-Einstein statistics and are not truly bosons; a more accurate term for such composite particles would be "bosonic-composites."

All observed bosons have integer spin, as opposed to fermions, which have half-integer spin. This is in accordance with the spin-statistics theorem which states that in any reasonable relativistic quantum field theory, particles with integer spin are bosons, while particles with half-integer spin are fermions.

While most bosons are composite particles, in the Standard Model, there are five bosons which are elementary:

    * the four gauge bosons (γ · g · W± · Z);
    * the Higgs boson (H0).

Unlike the gauge bosons, the Higgs boson has not yet been observed experimentally.

Composite bosons are important in superfluidity and other applications of Bose–Einstein condensates.

Definition and basic properties
By definition, bosons are particles which obey Bose–Einstein statistics: when one swaps two bosons, the wavefunction of the system is unchanged. Fermions, on the other hand, obey Fermi–Dirac statistics and the Pauli exclusion principle: two fermions cannot occupy the same quantum state as each other, resulting in a "rigidity" or "stiffness" of matter which includes fermions. Thus fermions are sometimes said to be the constituents of matter, while bosons are said to be the particles that transmit interactions (force carriers), or the constituents of radiation. The quantum fields of bosons are bosonic fields, obeying canonical commutation relations.

The properties of lasers and masers, superfluid helium-4 and Bose–Einstein condensates are all consequences of statistics of bosons. Another result is that the spectrum of a photon gas in thermal equilibrium is a Planck spectrum, one example of which is black-body radiation; another is the thermal radiation of the opaque early Universe seen today as microwave background radiation. Interaction of virtual bosons with real fermions are called fundamental interactions, and these result in all forces we know. The bosons involved in these interactions are called gauge bosons.

All known elementary and composite particles are bosons or fermions, depending on their spin: particles with half-integer spin are fermions; particles with integer spin are bosons. In the framework of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, this is a purely empirical observation. However, in relativistic quantum field theory, the spin-statistics theorem shows that half-integer spin particles cannot be bosons and integer spin particles cannot be fermions.

In large systems, the difference between bosonic and fermionic statistics is only apparent at large densities—when their wave functions overlap. At low densities, both types of statistics are well approximated by Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, which is described by classical mechanics.

Elementary bosons
All observed elementary particles are either fermions or bosons. The observed elementary bosons are all gauge bosons: photons, W and Z bosons and gluons.

    * Photons are the force carriers of the electromagnetic field.
    * W and Z bosons are the force carriers which mediate the weak nuclear force.
    * Gluons are the fundamental force carriers underlying the strong nuclear force.

In addition, the standard model postulates the existence of Higgs bosons, which give other particles their mass via the Higgs mechanism.

Finally, many approaches to quantum gravity postulate a force carrier for gravity, the graviton, which is a boson of spin 2.

Composite bosons
Composite particles (such as hadrons, nuclei, and atoms) can be bosons or fermions depending on their constituents. More precisely, because of the relation between spin and statistics, a particle containing an even number of fermions is a boson, since it has integer spin.

Examples include the following:

    * A meson contains two fermionic quarks and is therefore a boson;
    * The nucleus of a carbon-12 atom contains 6 protons and 6 neutrons (all fermions) and is therefore a boson;
    * The atom helium-4 (4He) is made of 2 protons, 2 neutrons and 2 electrons and is therefore a boson.

The number of bosons within a composite particle made up of simple particles bound with a potential has no effect on whether it is a boson or a fermion.

Fermionic or bosonic behavior of a composite particle (or system) is only seen at large (compared to size of the system) distance. At proximity, where spatial structure begins to be important, a composite particle (or system) behaves according to its constituent makeup. For example, two atoms of helium-4 cannot share the same space if it is comparable by size to the size of the inner structure of the helium atom itself (~10−10 m)—despite bosonic properties of the helium-4 atoms. Thus, liquid helium has finite density comparable to the density of ordinary liquid matter.

Sarathi | Guide4Income | Physics4u | Shastri | India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boson

Picture: Heleium II Flow

Theories
L. D. Landau’s phenomenological and semi-microscopic theory of superfluidity of 4He earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1962. Assuming that sound waves are the most important excitations in 4He at low temperatures, he showed that 4He flowing past a wall would not spontaneously create excitations if the flow velocity was less than the sound velocity. In this model, the sound velocity is the "critical velocity" above which superfluidity is destroyed.

(4He has a lower flow velocity than the sound velocity, but this model is useful to illustrate the concept.) Landau also showed that the sound wave and other excitations could equilibrate with one another and flow separately from the rest of the 4He called the "condensate".

From the momentum and flow velocity of the excitations he could then define a "normal fluid" density, which is zero at zero temperature and increases with temperature. At the so-called Lambda temperature, where the normal fluid density equals the total density, the 4He is no longer superfluid.

To explain the early specific heat data on superfluid 4He, Landau posited the existence of a type of excitation he called a "roton", but as better data became available he considered that the "roton" was the same as a high momentum version of sound.

Bijl in the 1940s, and Feynman around 1955 , developed microscopic theories for the roton, which was shortly observed with inelastic neutron experiments by Palevsky.

Landau thought that vorticity entered superfluid 4He by vortex sheets, but such sheets were shown to be unstable.

Lars Onsager and, later independently, Feynman showed that vorticity enters by quantized vortex lines. They also developed the idea of quantum vortex rings.

Background
Although the phenomenologies of the superfluid states of helium-4 and helium-3 are very similar, the microscopic details of the transitions are very different. Helium-4 atoms are bosons, and their superfluidity can be understood in terms of the Bose statistics that they obey. Specifically, the superfluidity of helium-4 can be regarded as a consequence of Bose-Einstein condensation in an interacting system. On the other hand, helium-3 atoms are fermions, and the superfluid transition in this system is described by a generalization of the BCS theory of superconductivity. In it, Cooper pairing takes place between atoms rather than electrons, and the attractive interaction between them is mediated by spin fluctuations rather than phonons. (See fermion condensate.) A unified description of superconductivity and superfluidity is possible in terms of gauge symmetry breaking.

Superfluids, such as supercooled helium-4, exhibit many unusual properties. (See Helium#Helium II state). Superfluid acts as if it were a mixture of a normal component, with all the properties associated with normal fluid, and a superfluid component. The superfluid component has zero viscosity, zero entropy, and infinite thermal conductivity. (It is thus impossible to set up a temperature gradient in a superfluid, much as it is impossible to set up a voltage difference in a superconductor.) Application of heat to a spot in superfluid helium results in a wave of heat conduction at the relatively high velocity of 20 m/s, called second sound.

One of the most spectacular results of these properties is known as the thermomechanical or "fountain effect". If a capillary tube is placed into a bath of superfluid helium and then heated, even by shining a light on it, the superfluid helium will flow up through the tube and out the top as a result of the Clausius-Clapeyron relation. A second unusual effect is that superfluid helium can form a layer, 30 nm thick, up the sides of any container in which it is placed. See Rollin film.

A more fundamental property than the disappearance of viscosity becomes visible if superfluid is placed in a rotating container. Instead of rotating uniformly with the container, the rotating state consists of quantized vortices. That is, when the container is rotated at speed below the first critical velocity (related to the quantum numbers for the element in question) the liquid remains perfectly stationary. Once the first critical velocity (the speed of sound in the superfluid) is reached, the superfluid will very quickly begin spinning at the critical speed. The speed is quantized, that is, a superfluid can only spin at certain "allowed" or critical speed values. In simplified terms, if the container is rotated to a certain allowed speed, the superfluid will rotate very quickly along with the container, otherwise, if the speed is too slow, then the superfluid will not move at all, unlike how a normal fluid like water will rotate along with its container from the start. (compare this to the london moment)

Properties
Theoretically, a normal fluid phase of non-zero entropy can coexist with a superfluidic phase with zero entropy. This leads to the strange phenomenon of a two-fluid model, in which there can be a transfer of mass without a transfer of energy: when such a fluid/superfluid system is introduced in a setup that would normally trap a fluid, the superfluid can flow out due to its zero-viscosity property, leaving the normal fluid behind. Thus, part of the fluid system’s mass is transferred without any energy transfer (since the superfluid has zero entropy).

Applications
Recently in the field of chemistry, superfluid helium-4 has been successfully used in spectroscopic techniques as a quantum solvent. Referred to as Superfluid Helium Droplet Spectroscopy (SHeDS), it is of great interest in studies of gas molecules, as a single molecule solvated in a superfluid medium allows a molecule to have effective rotational freedom, allowing it to behave exactly as it would in the "gas" phase.

Superfluids are also used in high-precision devices such as gyroscopes, which allow the measurement of some theoretically predicted gravitational effects (for an example see the Gravity Probe B article).

In 1999, one type of superfluid was used to trap light and greatly reduce its speed. In an experiment performed by Lene Hau, light was passed through a Bose-Einstein condensed gas of sodium (analogous to a superfluid) and found to be slowed to 17 m/s (61.2 km/h) from its normal speed of 299,792,458 metres per second in vacuum. This does not change the absolute value of c, nor is it completely new: any medium other than vacuum, such as water or glass, also slows down the propagation of light to c/n where n is the material’s refractive index. The very slow speed of light and high refractive index observed in this particular experiment, moreover, is not a general property of all superfluids.

The Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, launched in January 1983 to gather infrared data was cooled by 720 litres of superfluid helium, maintaining a temperature of 1.6 K (-271.4 °C).

Recent Discoveries
Physicists have recently been able to create a Fermionic condensate from pairs of ultra-cold fermionic atoms. Under certain conditions, fermion pairs form diatomic molecules and undergo Bose–Einstein condensation. At the other limit, the fermions (most notably superconducting electrons) form Cooper pairs which also exhibit superfluidity. This recent work with ultra-cold atomic gases has allowed scientists to study the region in between these two extremes, known as the BEC-BCS crossover.

Additionally, supersolids may also have been discovered in 2004 by physicists at Penn State University. When helium-4 is cooled below about 200 mK under high pressures, a fraction (~1%) of the solid appears to become superfluid. By quench cooling or lengthening the annealing time, thus increasing or decreasing the defect density respectively, it was shown, via torsional oscillator experiment, that the supersolid fraction could be made to range from 20% to completely non-existent. This suggested that the supersolid nature of helium-4 is not intrinsic to helium-4 but a property of helium-4 and disorder.  Some emerging theories posit that the supersolid signal observed in helium-4 was actually an observation of either a superglass state  or intrinsically superfluid grain boundaries in the helium-4 crystal.

Sarathi | Guide4Income | Physics4u | Shastri | India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfluid

Since students mainly learn from and are mentored by others who learned the foundation in their respetive fields from identical models there is seldom any disagreement over the fundamentals. People whose research is founded upon shared paradigms are committed to the same principles, rules and standards in their scientific system.

Openness to the diversity of thought is generally not welcomed and considered a threat in the majority of professional fields most of which are still dominated by models rooted in old paradigmatic thought.

In the majority of, if not all, scientific fields it is unfortunate that the political and financial institutions that control licensure, standards of ethics, and third-party payments, are rooted in the old paradigms and continue to hold the exclusive rights to define and regulate professional practice.

Most scientists participate in what can be considered as ‘normal science’. ‘Normal Science’ in this context is any activity consistent with the existing paradigm and provides relatively small gains in the field as a rule.

When the existing paradigm fails to explain a number of new phenomena or concepts, the science goes into a time of crisis during which a paradigm shift can occur. These paradigm shifts allows for new growth, new creativity, new ideas, new models—and ultimately a new age.

Throughout the history of the science, paradigm shifts have allowed us to explain previously unexplainable phenomena. Science introduced and continues to introduce a number of paradigm shifts that change our perception of the universe and of who we are. These paradigm shifts opened up new avenues and new fields to explore.

"It’s not easy being seen if you find information that does not support the accepted views because the supporters of the accepted views have publicity, money and power to grant degrees. Going along is how proponents of the accepted view obtained their degrees, how they obtained funding and how they obtained their publicity. So how could so many smart people have got it so wrong? A few got it wrong; the rest went along. Self interest, not science, ensured the status quo." – C. J. Ransom.

Here is an example of a paradigm shift in physics. In physics the string theory (now M-theory) proponents originally worked in 10-dimensions. There was a minority group of physicists who believed that there should be 11-dimensions. Those who believed that there should be 11-dimensions were practically excommunicated from the ranks of physicists. On the other hand the 10-dimensional model of string theory had difficulty with the maths something the 11-dimensional model did not have. It took a long time, with considerable infighting, but now the 11-dimensional model is now the accepted model. Consequently, as with all theoretic models, a number of scientists have questioned the perceptible successes of M- theory due to its present incompleteness, and its restricted predictive ability, after so many years of intense study.

Cosmology is now in the midst of its own paradigm shift. Many scientists (away from universities) have ditched the big bang theory in favor of an electric universe. The electric universe grew out of a broad interdisciplinary approach to science, based more on observations and experiments than abstract theory and recognized the connections between diverse disciplines.

This can be a interesting journey in the world of scientific ideas which are probably going to shape the intellectual scenario of the third millennium.

Most revolutions in science have come from people who taught themselves outside the academic system and were not constrained by the fallacies and fashions of the day. It has been well documented that modern institutions of science operate in such a way as to enforce conformity by preventing the research and publication of revolutionary ideas. Enlightenment has to come from outside academia.

Unfortunately science is vulnerable to the vested interests and biases of its practitioners as the ‘Global Warming’ (renamed ‘Climate Change’) scam has show only too clearly.

Regrettably we are in need of a major paradigm shift when it comes to the micro-generation of free energy. The paradigm shift is not only needed in the scientific community but in the political arena as well.

It is unfortunate that our species has a strong tendency towards herding, a dislike to contrariasm and a strong desire for acceptance and popularity. People fear change, our so-called "leaders" even more, and are willing to hang anyone who dares think outside their limited imagination.

Most of what you get taught is lies. It has to be. Sometimes if you get the truth all at once, you can’t understand it. – Terry Pratchett.

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Physics is the science of matter, energy, space, and time. It explains ordinary matter as combinations of a dozen fundamental particles, interacting through four fundamental forces. It describes the many forms of energy – such as kinetic energy, electrical energy, and mass – and the way energy can change from one form to another.

This list of weird, strange and unbelievable facts prove that the science of Physics is truly amazing!

Lightning strikes about 6,000 times per minute on our planet. That’s 360,000 times an hour. Better stay out of the water.

If something moves very fast, it becomes smaller and heavier. What a great way to gain weight. Just run like the devil.

If degrees Celsius and degrees Fahrenheit are different, how come minus 40 degrees Celsius is exactly the same temperature as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit? In any event, it’s mighty cold. To prove this just stand outside with a degrees C and a degrees F thermometer, wait for the temperature to drop to minus 40 and check your thermometers. Extra sweater suggested.

If cold water is closer to freezing than hot water, how come hot water freezes faster than cold water? Next time you want a hot bath, just remember this. And yes a rock can float in water, so long as it is pumice. Somehow I don’t think I want my next boat to be made of pumice.

Better get to Mexico City fast because it is sinking at the rate of 18 inches every year. Yikes!

Better cross the North Atlantic now before it gets too long. It gets an inch wider every year. It will harder and harder to beat the transatlantic speed crossing record.

Want to lose weight in a hurry, stand directly under the moon. Due to the gravitational effect you weigh slightly less when the moon is directly overhead. How about a science experiment on this subject.

Hawaii is moving toward Japan 4 inches every year. If you wait a zillion years, air fares and boat fares should go way down.

Diamonds are the hardest known substance. It is also very hard to buy diamonds unless you have a lot of money.Most gemstones contain several elements, except diamond which is all carbon. I do not understand why diamonds are so expensive if all it is composed of is carbon. Must be good public relations.

When glass breaks, the cracks move at speeds of more than 3,000 miles. If you could ride a glass crack from New York to Los Angeles, you could be there in an hour.

If you could throw a snowball fast enough, it would totally vaporize when it hit a brick wall. If you can throw a snowball that fast, you should be a major league pitcher.

On a clear day, a beam of sunlight can be reflected off a mirror and seen up to 25 miles away. I do believe that Native Americans used this fact to good advantage way back when.

At the ocean’s deepest point, due to immense pressure, an iron ball would take more than an hour to sink to the ocean floor. Great balls of fire, why does it take so long.

There is enough fuel in a full tank of a jumbo jet to drive an average car around the world four times. I have many friends and I do not believe that any of them would want to drive their cars around the world four times.

A car traveling at 50 mph uses half its fuel to overcome wind resistance. Some cars use more, some use less, depending on the aerodynamics. Another good idea for a science experiment.

If Mount Everest were placed at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean, its peak would still be a mile underwater. Before starting your next climb, you should check to make sure that the mountain will not be moved to the deep sea.

If given the same mass, our body would actually be hotter than the sun. If anyone had mass as big as the sun, where would they find clothes to fit?

A solar panel 100 miles by 100 miles in the Mojave Desert (USA) could replace all the fuel now burned to generate electricity in the entire U.S. But then again, how could the big oil companies make billions in profit by overcharging for gas.

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced just enough sound energy to heat up one cup of coffee. I really am prepared to give up the habit rather than take a chance on a sore throat.

The average ice berg weighs 20,000,000 tons. Next time I pass one, I will take it aboard my 28 foot sailboat to ice up the drinks.

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Children begin to become interested in learning at a very young age. By the time most people are only 4 years old they are discovering more and more about the things they are interested in.
So how do we encourage this behavior? How do we help our children want to learn and develop a desire for knowledge?

They only way to help children stay interested in learning is to make learning something they want to do. As with most successful child-learning-support techniques it involves YOU the parent/teacher. It’s really quite simple!

Children learn best by doing things, whatever they are. By learning from your example and from hands-on experience we get a real example of how things work. Setting the precedent that you want to learn is the first step.

When you are picking an activity to do with your children try to let them pick an activity. Letting them pick increases your chances of keeping them focused through the whole task and shows them that they can get excited about things they’re learning and that you can learn even from fun things.

Have them choose ahead of time so you can prepare, or have several activities prepared and let them choose from those. Even if they don’t like all of the choices at least they get to choose, a symptom of which they will subtly learn responsibility for their own choices.
If your kids are into sports, teach them about Physics. Sports where you hit a ball like Baseball, Cricket, Tennis, and Golf deal with many Physical concepts. You could discuss how the speed and spin of the ball effects the game, or how the angle you hit the ball, or the bounce as the ball hits the turf effect the game. Professional baseball players have many different formulas for getting a Triple Play! Formulas in themselves are scientific.

All sports can be a fantastic lesson in physiology! Studying how our bodies work is vital to athletes and trainers alike. Everything from studying how certain muscles move to better understand how to train a certain movement like a throw or a jump, to how your body uses food for fuel and how your pulmonary system works to keep you oxygenated during vigorous activity, it’s all science!

Just going for a walk in your neighborhood can become a lesson in science. Playground equipment can help teach physical concepts. You can talk about the fulcrum in a see saw, or how swings work by shifting your weight. The slide is a lesson in inertia and friction and "monkey bars" are full of opportunities for studying gravity and the wonders of muscles in our body.

While you are at the park take some time to notice any wildlife around you. Birds and other animals can become a biology lesson. Ask your kids to attempt to identify all the animals you see. Maybe you could have them make note of how many different animals they noticed and any interesting behaviors they observed in a field journal. You can also do this with flowers and trees.

Letting your kids help you cook dinner is the perfect time to discuss science. Talk about the equipment you are using, how the temperature affects your recipe, how the ingredients interact. Explain how water boils, how evaporation occurs to thicken your sauce or how baking soda and yeast help to make bread rise.

There are also many safety issues that can be discussed in the kitchen, and many of those directly relate to working in a laboratory when your kids are older. Safety when dealing with heat, boiling liquids, and cross contamination are all things they can learn about at home with you and apply in class.

Science is all around us. Cooking is chemistry, carpentry is engineering, gardening is botany with a touch of geology. Even the arts, especially music, involve science and math. No violin or electric guitar could make a sound without physics.

So many everyday things can be approached from a scientific stance. You can take any subject that your children are interested in and show them it can be fun to learn!

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Astronauts were sent to service the telescope on five separate missions, the last in 2009 and the most ambitious. Without these delicate but dangerous space repairs, the Hubble would have been a piece of useless space junk.

This movie chronicles one of these space missions.

Judging by scientific citations in science journals, the Hubble is perhaps the most cited scientific instrument of all time.

Besides giving us spectacular photographs from space, it has given us:

• Proof of the existence of black holes lurking in the center of galaxies
• The most complete life-history of stars, from star formation to supernova
• The most detailed photographs of the planets besides photos from space probes
• The most detailed photographs of comets, asteroids, and galaxies
• Evidence for the existence of dark matter, and also proof of Einstein’s theory of relativity

Rescuing the Hubble in 2009 was very risky, since astronauts could not safely flee to the International Space Station (ISS) in case of trouble, but it was successful.

The repairs should last until 2014, when the telescope will be decommissioned. It will be replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

According to NASA – The new telescope has a 6.6-meter diameter primary mirror and has a 25-square-meter collecting area formed from eighteen hexagonal segments. Comparable to the Hubble Telescope, the JWST collecting area is about 6 times larger giving it much more light-gathering power. It will primarily operate in the infrared but will have some capability in the visible range as well. The JWST will also operate much further away than the Hubble Telescope. To give you an idea, Hubble currently orbits the Earth at about 570 kilometers. The JWST will be operating at approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth at the second Lagrange (L2) point and will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket.

It will be interesting to see the stunning imagery from the Webb Telescope once it’s in operation but we will of course have to wait until mid-decade or so.

Don’t forget to go see IMAX Hubble 3D hitting the theaters on March 19!

Article Credit Big Think, both licensed under Creative Commons
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How powerful was the Chilean earthquake? It packed 500 to 700 more energy than the Haitian earthquake. When you go from a 7 to 8 on the Richter scale for earthquakes, the energy goes up by 32 times. So, going from 7.0 to 8.8, you find an increase in energy of about 500 to 700 times!

Why were so many more people killed in Haiti? Many reasons. First, earthquakes do not kill people; buildings and structures kill people. Chile has a long history of monster earthquakes – the 1960 earthquake was the largest recorded in modern history and hence a longer history of enforcing building codes. The last major Haitian earthquake was two centuries ago, so building codes were routinely ignored. Second, there are other factors (proximity, population density, warning time, etc.)

Are we seeing more earthquakes? Not really. Okinawa registered a 7.0 earthquake, comparable to the Haitian earthquake, just before the Chilean earthquake, but got no coverage. The point is that the media only focuses on earthquakes which hurt and kill people, not the ones which pack the most energy.In 1811 and again in 1812, a huge earthquake hit the Tennessee-Kentucky area when the New Madrid fault gave way. It was so huge that the Mississippi River even ran backwards. Back then, population densities were very low, and national media did not exist, so most people have never heard of it.If it happened today, the damage could be incalculable.

In 1964, the Great Alaskan Earthquake hit the US with a magnitude of 9.2, making it the second largest earthquake ever recorded. But again, population was low and the media did not carry the story. The San Andreas fault, running 800 miles through California, is unstable. It last erupted in 1857 and again in 1906. My grandfather was in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. According to the US Geological Survey, there is a 62% chance of a big 7.0 earthquake hitting San Francisco in the next 30 years. A 7.0 earthquake would kill 7,000 to 18,000 people in Los Angeles, according to the USGS. Property damage could run upwards of $250 billion, depending on precisely where the earthquake hit. If the 1906 earthquake were to re-strike the San Francisco area, it would kill an estimated 5,800 people.

Because of budget cuts, California is vulnerable, despite spending on reinforcing its infrastructure. According to the USGS, a big earthquake would destroy all freeways in the San Francisco or Los Angeles area. Also, the Port of Los Angeles would be closed, causing an estimated $36 billion dollars damage to the economy. In 2002, a study found that 2100 out of 9600 schools were not guaranteed to hold up in case of an earthquake, according to the state’s architect’s office.

What causes a tsunami? A violent sinking of the earth’s crust along a fracture under the ocean causes massive water waves. These waves can travel hundreds of miles per hour, like a jet liner. The waves themselves are only a few inches tall, but very, very deep. So an ocean liner may not even know that it was hit by this wave.

Why are tsunami waves so tall when they hit land and kill potentially hundreds of thousands? When a wave hits land, the wave grows drastically in height, from a few inches to many, many feet. This is because when the wave hits a beach, the bottom of the wave slows down faster than the top of the wave. The excess energy spills over into increasing the height of the wave.

How is the US affected? Hawaii has to worry about tsunamis that originate from Alaska, South America, etc. that travel across the Pacific. Hilo has suffered great damage in the past from such earthquakes. Also, off the coast of Seattle, there is a huge fault line which can not only destroy much of the American Northwest, but also trigger monster tsunamis which can kill people in Japan, as happened centuries ago.

What can be done? More buoys can be placed in the oceans to monitor tsunamis and early warning systems can be increased. More warnings from satellites and telecommunications are necessary. More bluntly, more nations have to reinforce their building codes because the world’s population has exploded in the past 50 years, the danger is quite severe in many countries.

In closing – There is nothing unusual happening with the earth’s interior, so it is an illusion that some new force is suddenly creating these huge earthquakes. There has been a slight uptick in earthquake activity in the last 15 years, but is minor. I guess we can only hope that humanity doesn’t have to experience another one anytime soon…

Article Credit Big Think, both licensed under Creative Commons
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Time Magazine called him the Person of the Century—I would call him a Person for the Ages.

His work will live forever.

People sometimes ask, what has Einstein done for me lately?

The answer is: EVERYTHING.

Many of the marvels of science today can be traced back to some work of Einstein. For example, his theory of light and the photon has made possible the creation of solar cells, TV, lasers, GPS, and many of the miracles of modern electronics that we see around us. His special theory of relativity unlocked the secret of the stars; his equation E = mc squared is known even by school children. It has already given us nuclear energy, and one day fusion power may give us unlimited energy via this equation. His general theory of relativity has given us the Big Bang theory, black holes, gravity waves, and modern cosmology.

Crumbs from Einstein’s table have generated scores of Nobel Prizes for other physicists (e.g., for gravity waves, for Bose-Einstein condensates, for the Big Bang theory, etc.) and continue to open new avenues for research even to this very day.

His uncompleted dream of a Theory of Everything is what drives the $13 billion Large Hadron Collider, the largest machine of science ever built by mankind. The LHC, in fact, just set an energy record last week by accelerating two beams of protons up to 3.5 teraelectronvolts (TeV), breaking its own record from last November.

His uncompleted dream also inspired scores of young would-be physicists, myself included. He was a role model to me when I was just a child and I owe a great deal to this great man.

People who knew him use one word to describe his personality: his humanity. His generosity, his engaging personality, his humility, his tireless work against ignorance and injustice, and his compassion helped to inspire everyone around him.

Article Credit Big Think, both licensed under Creative Commons
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Global warming depends on averaging data over many years, decades, and centuries across the entire planet, not just the United States, which occupies only a tiny fraction of the earth’s surface. For example, just a few years ago, Europe was baking in the greatest hot spell in memory, which killed thousands—but that also does not say anything conclusive at all.

People disagree on the human component of global warming. However, most everyone can agree on several points:

a) The Earth is heating up and this is easily measured

b) The extra heat means more moisture in the air

c) Extra moisture and warming in general causes swings in climate

These swings, in principle, might be manifested as:

i) More droughts in the Southwest

ii) Increased hurricane activity affecting Florida and the Caribbean

iii) More snow storms

So, without making any statements about the role of human activity, one can hypothesize that the current storms are consistent with increased swings in climate, driven by more moisture in the air, which in turn is caused by heating.

This leads to a prediction: More violent swings in the climate in the coming years, in the form of floods, droughts, snow storms, hurricanes, etc.

As humans in a free country, we are free to believe whatever we want about global warming, and to disagree about anything. But any comment that has relevance has to be backed up by both mathematics and data—not just good intentions.

Article Credit Big Think, both licensed under Creative Commons
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For the first time, scientists in Germany announced that they have been able to create a cloaking device that can render a three-dimensional object invisible (at near optical frequencies). Previously in 2006, scientists at Duke University created a substance called metamaterials which could render an object invisible by absorbing all the light that hits it, but only in two-dimensions and only at microwave frequencies.

This time, scientists were able to make a cloaking device that could make a tiny three-dimensional object disappear under infrared light, which is almost in the visible range. Infrared by definition has a longer wavelength at a lower frequency than that of visible light. These scientists in fact made a small invisibility carpet, and if you place an object under this carpet (made of gold), then the bump made by this carpet disappears. Light hits the bump, which modifies the path of the beam so that the beam bounces off just as if the bump weren’t even there. This process can be scaled up and in principle you could put one of these carpets over a person, a car, or even a house and make it disappear. This technology of course raises many moral concerns, as discussed in Plato’s Republic, which argues that a person with such a power (a ring that makes you invisible) would use it for unjust means if given the opportunity.

There are many hurdles to overcome before we have something similar to and as technologically advanced as Harry Potter’s cloak.

a) First, scientists have to make a cloak that works in the visible range, which might come very soon.

b) The object under the bump is very tiny (a few microns wide), smaller than a human hair, so small it cannot be seen with the naked eye. But, in principle, in the future it can be scaled up to cover a person or any object for that matter. The process of building such a cloak would be very expensive and time-consuming, since it’s done via nanotechnology.

c) From a distance, the carpet/cloak looks like a mirror. The bump in this carpet/mirror disappears if we use metamaterials. Scientists have to demonstrate this effect without the object looking like a mirror, which may take a bit of time.

This type of research in general is both fast-paced and competitive, and other groups working on invisibility include both UC Berkeley and Cornell. An invisibility cloak (or carpet) similar to the one worn by Harry Potter is certainly a distinct possibility but will take many years of hard work to perfect. Still, it may be here sooner than you think, and as I’ve stated before, "The more we know, the faster we can know more."

(Article Credit Big Think, both licensed under Creative Commons]

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